Official Survey: They're going to sell individual downloads!?WTF?!

[chemistrycourtney]

i looked around some more.  not everything is 100 points.  some stuff is 75.    but it's all  stuff released with EP's.  all the "exclusive" stuff is a dollar a download basically.  And really, I'm spoiled and would not pay to download a hair that i only have one thumbnail picture of, in one angle.  ever.

[glasscigarette]

I feel the same way. Even with free fan-created items, I tend to be happier if I have a number of preview pictures to help me make the decision whether or not to download.

[Paden]

You know, I have a barbed-wire wrapped fence post they can shove up their asses. Thing is, I dunno if I wanna charge for it or not, but I feel like being generous and only hitting them up for the cost of the labour that I will have to expend to get it up there! ASSHOLES!

[missangelica]

It's as bad as I thought it was going to be.  In the hair section alone, it would be $41 plus tax to get everything.

EA:  Taking every penny you have.

[FreeShitOnly]

As sick and pitiful as this is, I wonder how this will affect The Pirates/Booty?  Will there be a new EA section?  Or, since we really can't say they are infringing on copyright, are they exempt from the booty even though they now have a new and shiny paysite? Is it a catch 22?  Will we treat EA like Peggy, TSR and the other leeches by registering, pilfering and adding to the booty?

How does it work when the very EULA we use to beat paysites over the head with is authored by a company who has it's own paysite?  I mean, technically, it's their stuff and they have the right to sell it.  Catch 22 right?

My brain hurts.

[Paden]

Clear cut. We can't touch the fuckers cause they aren't breaking any copyrights or anything. They have the license to sell their shit, but the others don't. We go after the ones that are operating illegally and sadly, EA isnt. Despite the SecuROM and all of that other shit they fuck us over with, it's not illegal for them to hack apart EP's and SP's and sell it all separately and make even more money. I wonder if the franchise is starting to moo, because those lousy fucks are milking it for all they're worth. Does that help?

[FreeShitOnly]

Clear cut. We can't touch the fuckers cause they aren't breaking any copyrights or anything. They have the license to sell their shit, but the others don't. We go after the ones that are operating illegally and sadly, EA isnt. Despite the SecuROM and all of that other shit they fuck us over with, it's not illegal for them to hack apart EP's and SP's and sell it all separately and make even more money. I wonder if the franchise is starting to moo, because those lousy fucks are milking it for all they're worth. Does that help?

That definitely helps.  Thanks for breaking that down.  What I don't get is... the Sims franchise has been around for ages.. If they're going to go this route, why recycle shit that 90% of us already have via EPs & SPs?  An SP is what? $19.99?  So if my math is correct.. you break about even if you were to just go out and get the damn SP as opposed to downloaded shit from this *store*.

Some higher up at EA has been playing naked under the sheets with Thomas for quite some time now.. which is why i'm not too terribly surprised that EA now has it's own version of "Kudos".

*spit*

[glasscigarette]

Although PMBD itself can't pirate EA's items for all the reasons Paden lines out, I have little doubt that some enterprising groups or individuals will take it upon themselves to do so. And at this point, who can blame them?

[Paleoanth]

One person on the BBS calculated that it would cost $484.00 to get everything on the simstore.  Nice.

[Greenie]

One person on the BBS calculated that it would cost $484.00 to get everything on the simstore.  Nice.

Yeah. That was me (I'm sims2madaddict). So far it costs nearly £600 ($1199.75) for everything on there apart from hair. I'll calculate that later and foot the final checkout bill later. I can't be that far off if only 6 items are free, which is around $6 at most.

Edit: OK, I accounted the hair which costs 12300 Sim Points ($123) altogether. The grand total is 132275 Sim Points, which is $1322.75 for EVERYTHING on there.

[glasscigarette]

I suppose EA is trying to defend this latest move by saying that players can download just a few items here and there, and can ultimately pay considerably less than they otherwise would if they were to pay for all the stuff packs. As I've heard many people complain that they have to spend $20 for an SP even though they only want a couple of the items, this probably makes sense for some people. They might even entice a greater quantity of customers to purchase this way, and they will undoubtedly make up for any prophet losses as a result of these new buyers. As for the players who like to have all the official content, well, I guess they're just expected to cough up nearly $500 over $1300 and be happy about it.

If they must go down this route, I hope they still release these items in stuff packs for those people who want all the items, and release them on a pay-per-item basis for those who do not.

[TashaFaun]

Personally I can't wait until someone cracks this and distributes the downloads freely. I will definetly be partaking in that. They have enough of my money. Fuck EA and their bull.

[FreeShitOnly]

One thing I will say that I partook in was the free vehicle downloads... like the Ford Edge, etc.  I hope that they at least continue to do that as opposed to making them ONLY availiable at the 'store' for points...

[Souvenirs]

Well, I have to break out of lurk mode for this one.  Wow. 

That definitely helps.  Thanks for breaking that down.  What I don't get is... the Sims franchise has been around for ages.. If they're going to go this route, why recycle shit that 90% of us already have via EPs & SPs?  An SP is what? $19.99?  So if my math is correct.. you break about even if you were to just go out and get the damn SP as opposed to downloaded shit from this *store*.

It's a marketing tactic--it looks like you're spending less when you're only spending a buck at a time as opposed to shelling out the whole twenty bucks at one time.  Of course, if you actually calculate it it isn't at all, but most of the people EA is counting on buying this stuff aren't acute enough to do that.    The bottom line is that, if you haven't bought EPs/SPs yet, you probably won't, and this is the way EA can squeeze more money out of you if you aren't willing to pay the price the first time around.

I'll ditto chemistrycourtney and say that, even if I were willing to pay for EAxis shit, I wouldn't buy anything with the crappy pictures they have up now.  But then again, it's not me that they're trying to win over, it's the people that'll buy anything. 

What pisses me off to no end is that people like Thomass and Peggy (and now EA) are taking advantage of Sims players that are too short-sighted to realize that there's much better content out there.  Sigh.  I know it's typical of big corporations like EA, but it still pisses me off.  It's just such a respectful way to treat your paying customers.

I also have no doubt that, does EA release anything decent, it'll make its way around even though it can't be in the booty.  That's the sad thing--EA is turning its customers against it in its attempt to make a quick buck.  Sorry for the rant (and the eye rollage), but I'm not feeling very sympathetic toward EA now.

[FreeShitOnly]

it looks like you're spending less when you're only spending a buck at a time as opposed to shelling out the whole twenty bucks at one time.  Of course, if you actually calculate it it isn't at all, but most of the people EA is counting on buying this stuff aren't acute enough to do that.

Ha, yeah.  Pretty much.